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spacewhombus's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, another favorite for this year! I was surprised by how much I loved this!!! I thought it would be kinda dry, but it was such a fun read and super quick because the author's style really pulls you in. It was fascinating to learn about phosphorus (hear me out!!!) and the different ways it either occurs or was made/used.
It felt like this book was eerily exactly targeted to me as a reader lol- Hamburg (where I live), amber hunting on the Baltic Sea coast (recently did that), Mary Anning (historical fossil-finder and paleontologist, played by Kate Winslet in the iconic lesbian drama Ammonite (2020)), algal blooms in the ocean (relevant to my field), wastewater treatment (I read a great book about toilets leave me alone), the history of laundry detergent (okay not a special interest of mine but it was freaking cool), etc. etc. etc., this book truly has it all!
This was particularly interesting for me as someone who lives in Hamburg and recently vacationed on Usedom, because both places are particularly prominent in this book. The fire that burned through Hamburg during the second World War was caused by phosphorus bombs, and that is the reason you can still find phosphorus chunks along the Elbe River today. Usedom was also similarly bombed, and beachcombers hunting for amber on the Baltic Sea coast there can also have an unfortunate mix-up of finding phosphorus, which when exposed to the warmth of your pocket instead of the cold of the sea will burst into flames (the author recounts a very scary first-hand account of someone to whom that happened). Andddd phosphorus as a chemical element was discovered in Hamburg in the 1600s, andddd Hamburg has one of the first water treatment plants that is attempting to recover phosphorus from waste! *mind-blown emoji*
So yea aside from the hype about north Germany, there is a lot of interesting information about phosphorus mining in Florida and Morocco, both of which I did not know anything about. The author also covers the history of laundry detergents and artificial fertilizers (initially made from chunks of fossilized poo!), both of which contribute to the overdosing of our waterways with phosphorus, which leads to harmful algal blooms in both fresh and saltwater. There are also some interesting bits about the agriculture industry in general.
Overall I adored this book, so far probably my favorite of the year! Would definitely recommend as this is the farthest thing from the dry chemistry book that I initially imagined it to be!
Wow, another favorite for this year! I was surprised by how much I loved this!!! I thought it would be kinda dry, but it was such a fun read and super quick because the author's style really pulls you in. It was fascinating to learn about phosphorus (hear me out!!!) and the different ways it either occurs or was made/used.
It felt like this book was eerily exactly targeted to me as a reader lol- Hamburg (where I live), amber hunting on the Baltic Sea coast (recently did that), Mary Anning (historical fossil-finder and paleontologist, played by Kate Winslet in the iconic lesbian drama Ammonite (2020)), algal blooms in the ocean (relevant to my field), wastewater treatment (I read a great book about toilets leave me alone), the history of laundry detergent (okay not a special interest of mine but it was freaking cool), etc. etc. etc., this book truly has it all!
This was particularly interesting for me as someone who lives in Hamburg and recently vacationed on Usedom, because both places are particularly prominent in this book. The fire that burned through Hamburg during the second World War was caused by phosphorus bombs, and that is the reason you can still find phosphorus chunks along the Elbe River today. Usedom was also similarly bombed, and beachcombers hunting for amber on the Baltic Sea coast there can also have an unfortunate mix-up of finding phosphorus, which when exposed to the warmth of your pocket instead of the cold of the sea will burst into flames (the author recounts a very scary first-hand account of someone to whom that happened). Andddd phosphorus as a chemical element was discovered in Hamburg in the 1600s, andddd Hamburg has one of the first water treatment plants that is attempting to recover phosphorus from waste! *mind-blown emoji*
So yea aside from the hype about north Germany, there is a lot of interesting information about phosphorus mining in Florida and Morocco, both of which I did not know anything about. The author also covers the history of laundry detergents and artificial fertilizers (initially made from chunks of fossilized poo!), both of which contribute to the overdosing of our waterways with phosphorus, which leads to harmful algal blooms in both fresh and saltwater. There are also some interesting bits about the agriculture industry in general.
Overall I adored this book, so far probably my favorite of the year! Would definitely recommend as this is the farthest thing from the dry chemistry book that I initially imagined it to be!
alerycelery's review against another edition
4.0
Approachable science and history. You don’t need a degree to comprehend this one. The author does not shy away from the dirt though, so be prepared to be thoroughly disgusted with our fellow humans and the shit we’ve created.
orgronomist's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
A multi-faceted review on phosphorous’ role in society and where it is likely to go next. Egan brilliantly broached the topic from multiple stakeholder perspectives, which leaves the reader with a nuanced view that reveals potential solutions to our phosphorous challenges are not black and white.
diegoo21's review
4.0
I finished reading Dan Egan's latest book a couple of weeks ago and it was a fun and fast read. I rarely do book reviews, but I feel compelled to write this one since I won it through a Goodreads giveaway. I won't fuel any conspiracy theories, but it's curious how of all the raffles I've participated, I won the one for the new book by an author whose previous book I gave five stars and even gave a brief positive review about. That book was The Life and Death of the Great Lakes, one of my favorite popular science books including a mix of history, biology/ecology, and a great dive into invasive species biology, a relatively new area of biological interest.
In this next book, Egan focuses again on what seems to be a very specific subject, to expand into issues of worldwide concern that interconnect the ecological worries about ecosystem deterioration to sociological concerns from food security to political unrests waiting just around the corner. In "The Devil's Element", the author focuses on a single element in the periodic table, phosphorus, probably not as well known as say, oxygen or nitrogen. Phosphorus, however, is an essential component of life on this planet, forming amongst other things, the backbone of all DNA and RNA sequences from viruses to whales, and also being an essential component of cellular energy currency: ATP, which has protagonistic roles in both cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
Unlike nitrogen or oxygen, phosphorus is less readily available in natural systems and constantly acts as the limiting factor for primary production. Egan relates how humans historically figured this out, at first naively in a trial and error fashion that included the use of war victim bones and then more methodologically through the alchemy of attempting to extract gold from urine. Egan's greatest asset as a science writer is his ability to find interesting stories to complement his writing, both in the historical and from the newsfeed; from the deep scientific thought process that went into proving that soap and detergent products were to blame for polluted lakes, to what happened when a criminal thought he could make a getaway by swimming through a toxic algae infected canal. These are the stories that stay with you and that I have found myself telling in both classroom and everyday interactions.
Although the focus of the book is on the United States, Egan also manages to explain the global implications of the day when the US depletes its most readily available phosphorus sources and turns to the biggest deposit in Western Sahara, a region that despite its richness in a product that makes modern day farming possible, still holds human communities living in extreme poverty.
Overall, The Devil's Element does what a good popular science book should do; it informs and entertains you equally while making you think about a topic you probably hadn't given much thought to. I'm really curious as to where Egan will take us next.
In this next book, Egan focuses again on what seems to be a very specific subject, to expand into issues of worldwide concern that interconnect the ecological worries about ecosystem deterioration to sociological concerns from food security to political unrests waiting just around the corner. In "The Devil's Element", the author focuses on a single element in the periodic table, phosphorus, probably not as well known as say, oxygen or nitrogen. Phosphorus, however, is an essential component of life on this planet, forming amongst other things, the backbone of all DNA and RNA sequences from viruses to whales, and also being an essential component of cellular energy currency: ATP, which has protagonistic roles in both cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
Unlike nitrogen or oxygen, phosphorus is less readily available in natural systems and constantly acts as the limiting factor for primary production. Egan relates how humans historically figured this out, at first naively in a trial and error fashion that included the use of war victim bones and then more methodologically through the alchemy of attempting to extract gold from urine. Egan's greatest asset as a science writer is his ability to find interesting stories to complement his writing, both in the historical and from the newsfeed; from the deep scientific thought process that went into proving that soap and detergent products were to blame for polluted lakes, to what happened when a criminal thought he could make a getaway by swimming through a toxic algae infected canal. These are the stories that stay with you and that I have found myself telling in both classroom and everyday interactions.
Although the focus of the book is on the United States, Egan also manages to explain the global implications of the day when the US depletes its most readily available phosphorus sources and turns to the biggest deposit in Western Sahara, a region that despite its richness in a product that makes modern day farming possible, still holds human communities living in extreme poverty.
Overall, The Devil's Element does what a good popular science book should do; it informs and entertains you equally while making you think about a topic you probably hadn't given much thought to. I'm really curious as to where Egan will take us next.